1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle for releasably connecting loose ends of a belt or strap applied to garments, bags and the like.
2. Prior Art
A buckle disposed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-55217 published on Dec. 20, 1980 comprises a male member having a pair of parallel cantilevered resilient legs, and a female member having a pair of opposed sidewalls defining therebetween a slot into which the legs are frictionally inserted until feet on the respective legs are snapped into engagement with locking edges of the sidewalls to thereby lock the male and female members in coupled condition. To release both members from one another, a pair of cantilevered resilient grip arms is disposed on the female member outwardly of the sidewalls, respectively, with their free ends directed toward the feet of the legs. When the grip arms are pressed by fingers, the free ends of the arms are brought into engagement with the feet and then urge the latter out of engagement with the locking edges against the resiliency of the legs, to thereby allow the male member to be detached from the female member. A disadvantage of the disclosed buckle is that the grip arms are likely to be damaged or broken when subjected to lateral pulling forces tending to spread the arms.